Dates listed are the dates in which participates should arrive and depart Accra, Ghana if they are traveling with the group. On these arrival and departure dates, there will be GHEI staff to meet or drop off volunteers at the airport.

Session III: July 19th – August 4th
Ghana Read and Play: A celebration of Childhood Literacy
Applicants from all backgrounds and majors are encouraged to apply.

Time Commitment Volunteers will be expected to dedicate three hours each week for the month preceding departure gathering resources and organizing activities. There will also be conference calls prior to departure, which all volunteers are required to participate in, to go over both project-specific material and general GHEI information.

Background Early exposure to rich language experiences and high quality instruction plays a fundamental role in ensuring a child’s later success. Children who experience early success in school are far more likely to graduate from high school, pursue higher education and attain jobs.

GHEI runs a variety of education programs for the children in Humjibre including a library, early literacy program and youth education program. GHEI’s library provides a focal point for the community to learn and explore the world of books. Our early literacy program aims to instill an early love of learning for our kids age 5-12, while our youth education program (YEP) serves to supplement the learning of the top students in Junior High School (JHS).

In the summer of 2009, many volunteers spent a portion of their time with the early literacy program, and both the children and volunteers found the experience exceedingly fun and rewarding. The children’s enthusiasm translates into meaningful improvement in language ability in a short amount of time. The Ghana Read and Play volunteer session is a new addition to our volunteer programs, and volunteers will play a great role in its formation and direction for future years. Help us promote literacy in our community through a two-week celebration of learning.

Project Description Volunteers will design and run a two-week celebration of literacy. Specifically, volunteers will create six sessions of storytelling, games, contests etc. aimed at increasing local children’s exposure to rich language and learning experiences and conduct two workshops for local educators on library literacy. Volunteers will also help conduct GHEI’s yearly Read-A-Thon which rewards children for spending quality time with books at our library.

Continued: Session IV: August 6th – August 22nd
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